Batting

Batting

CLERMONT, Fla. – The MIT softball team fell to Luther College, 8-1, and the University of Chicago, 6-0, on Saturday afternoon at the Legends Way Complex.

Game One: Luther 8, MIT 1

Luther (10-1) freshman Samantha Bratland (Spring Grove, Minn.) earned the win in relief (5-0) after coming on in the top of the fourth inning for junior Amanda Witzlib (Germantown, Wis.). Bratland threw four strong inning allowing just one run (unearned), two hits, zero walks and struck out five batters.

Trailing 5-0 in the top of the fourth, the Engineers got their only run of the day when junior Ali Trueworthy (Rochester, NH.) lined a single to left field, which scored sophomore KatherineShade (Glencoe, Ill.) from third. Shade reached base on a fielding error and moved into scoring position on a single to right field by freshman Amber VanHemel (Coconut Creek, Fla.).

In the bottom of the frame, Luther put the game out of reach with two more runs. The first on a sacrifice fly to center by sophomore Natalie Stockman (Glencoe, Minn.) and the second on an RBI single to right by classmate Megan Bonnett (North Liberty, Iowa). Bratland threw a 1-2-3 sixth and seventh, sealing the win for the Norse.

Game Two: Chicago 6, MIT 0

It was a pitchers duel as both the Engineers and Maroons were held scoreless through the first four and a half innings, but Chicago (3-0) exploded for a six-spot in the bottom of the fifth, pulling away for the victory.

Chicago sophomore Molly Moran (Wheaton, Ill.) and senior Jordan Poole (Austin, Texas) combined for a four-hit, complete game shutout for the Maroons. Moran (1-0) threw the first five allowing just three hits and three walks striking out three, while Poole conceded only one hit and struck out four over the final two innings.

In the first start of her MIT career, freshman Ravenne Nasser (Methuen, Mass.) suffered the loss on 4 1/3 innings, six runs (four earned), four hits, two walks and three strikeouts.

After Nasser punched out the first batter in the bottom of the fifth, Chicago used three hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly to account for its six runs.

MIT (1-3) takes on Whitworth (9:00 a.m.) and Eastern Connecticut State University (11:00 a.m.) tomorrow, March 21 at the Legends Way Complex.